#10 more animals that should not be in the uk | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys · 4 months ago

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Hi! Could you tell us more about the hoopoe sighting, specifically from the human / social side? Are these bird watchers or regular folk? How did the word spread around? Are people coming in from further (definition pending) away or are these walking distance neighbours? Etc etc etc

Basically, this situation sounds fascinating but I feel like I'm missing as to how this is happening and what social rules have emerged. It doesn't look like there's press coverage or wildlife protection or the threat of a wild animal killing you like with the [sea lion? Seal? That one pinniped] incident. So, how is this all playing out?

ALSO, I'm writing a story in which a non-native bird arrives one day and that manages to bring together some of the neighbours, so this event is personally fascinating to me. Thank you so so much for your reporting.

Sure! So, first off for context, a hoopoe sighting in the UK is not unheard of, but super super rare. It's something that happens like... once every few years, maybe? But normally on the south east coast of England, it is super super super rare to get one in Wales.

Now, whenever you get rare sightings like this, it's mostly bird watchers who care, and who spread the news. Last year a golden oriole turned up in a scrap of woodland on the Gower - much like the hoopoe, just passing through - and within hours of someone spotting it and putting it on a bird forum, the twitchers descended, lol. As luck would have it I was leading a field trip in that woodland on that day, so I got to see about two dozen people turn up, singly or in small groups, over the course of about four or five hours, all armed with proper cameras and also good binoculars. I never saw it in the end, which was a shame, but I know where it was, because I saw the birders gather in a small, hushed crowd at one end as we were getting back on the bus.

In the case of this hoopoe, things are a bit more relaxed. Unlike that golden oriole, it was first spotted earlier this week, and has hung out every day along the beach at roughly the same spot. You can see how unbothered it is by humans, too, look:

So close! Look how close it came in the photos! And the path it's on is a cycle path; bikes going past merely made it raise its crest momentarily and then carry on feeding. This means it's been a more relaxed affair, because if you want to see it, it's bizarrely easy to find. The first two days had slightly bigger crowds, but by now the QUICKLY GO AND SEE BEFORE IT LEAVES fervour has gone.

With that said, it's still mostly birders and other environmentalists going to see it. I don't think local news has even covered it, funnily enough. A quick search for 'Swansea hoopoe' gets me bird watching websites, birding soc med groups, a YouTube video, and a news article from last year when a hoopoe turned up in an Aberystwyth garden, of all places. The Evening Post really should have mentioned it for local interest, actually, but nothing. Although, of course, that's probably helped keep crowds down.

But environmentalists are definitely sharing the news with each other lol, so there's that (especially on the local scene). WE are all very excited. Of the little crowd of about 10 people there today, most had proper cameras. Several were discussing RSPB sites. Many had English accents, which suggests they travelled in to see it (although of course that's not definite). So, it's mostly a specialist crowd, interspersed with locals who stop to see what everyone is staring at.

The difference with the walrus, though, is I think partly the level of exoticism (most people don't know what a hoopoe is, but have seen birds; by contrast, they do know what a walrus is, and most haven't even seen a seal), and partly impact. Wally was exciting regardless, but he also kept squatting on slipways and capsizing boats, leading to funny photos of lifeboat volunteers trying to shoo him away with a broom.

And even funnier photos of him sinking the boats of rich toffs as they watched helplessly on and underwent the five stages of grief.

And, actually, he came visiting in lockdown, when people couldn't travel far and couldn't gather indoors, but you could go to Tenby and stand on a cliff, and I do think that played a part. But, as I say, most non environmentalists just don't know the hoopoe is even there to get excited.

Anyway, I hope that is at all useful! Good luck with your story.

#asks #environment!#animalia #why yes wally IS a meme now #haven't used that tag in a while

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lastofthemadones · 5 months ago

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Long Live Evil has me by the throat and I made a Key playlist

(I don't have a spotify account so it's on Youtube Music don't hate me) find it here

Take Me to Church - Hozier

Take me to church, I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies, I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife

2. I Love You Like an Alcoholic - The Taxpayers

One last kiss, I love you like an alcoholic, One last kiss, I love you like a statuette, One last kiss, I need you like I need a broken leg

3. Oceanographer's Choice - The Mountain Goats

Look at that, Would you look at that, We're throwing off sparks, What will I do when I don't have you, To hold onto in the dark?

4. Howl - Florence + The Machine

The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound, I hunt for you with bloodied feet across the hallowed ground, And howl, Be careful of the curse that falls on young lovers, Starts so soft and sweet and turns them to hunters

5. From Eden - Hozier

Honey, you're familiar like my mirror years ago, Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword, Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me I should know, I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door

6. Bad Things - Jace Everett

I don't know what you've done to me, But I know this much is true, I wanna do bad things with you

7. It Will Come Back - Hozier

Don't let me in with no intention to keep me, Jesus Christ, don't be kind to me, Honey, don't feed me, I will come back, It can't be unlearned, I've known the warmth of your doorways, Through the cold, I'll find my way back to you

8. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, You better run, better run outrun my gun

9. Hurt - Johnny Cash

Everyone I know goes away, In the end, And you could have it all, My empire of dirt, I will let you down, I will make you hurt

10. We Will Commit Wolf Murder - of Montreal

Something's terrorized my psyche to get even, Lately, you're the only human I believe in

11. Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part To Save The Scene And Stop Going To Shows) - Fall Out Boy

I used to obsess over living, Now I only obsess over you

12. Fever - Magpie Cinema Club

Romeo loved Juliet, Juliet she felt the same, but when she put her arms around him, He said, "Julie baby you're to blame, Thou giveth fever"

13. Seven Devils - Florence + The Machine

See, I was dead when I woke up this morning, I'll be dead before the day is done, Before the day is done, And now all your love will be exorcised, And we will find you saying it's to be better now

14. Dust Bowl Dance - Mumford & Sons

There will come a time I will look in your eye, You will pray to the God that you always denied, Then I'll go out back, and I'll get my gun, I'll say, "You haven't met me, I am the only son"

15. Monster - Ron Pope

Make me a monster, Make me a beast, Prey on my weakness, Become my disease, I've been lovesick and empty, Cold and I'm trembling

16. Dirty Little Animals - Bones UK

It makes your blood run hot, It makes your spit taste sweet, It makes you feel more alive, Than you have ever been

#I know there's a lot of Hozier #But if it fits ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#long live evil #sarah rees brennan #let's all pretend that every time a gun is mentioned #they actually mean a knife #Anyway #I love Key so much #I support Key rights #but more than that I support Key wrongs #I am unwell about a fictional man

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wen-kexing-apologist · 27 days ago

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2024 Recap: ✨A Summary✨

Post your most popular and/or favourite edit/gifset/analysis for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

@lurkingshan tagged a post that I was a co-author on and thus I am feeling inspired to also do this post.

January:

most popular: Comparison of Tharn and Phaya irl and in fantasy

favorites: Top 5 "Oh" Moments Ask || Feelings Made Visible: Design Choices in The Sign post.

I loved getting asks, so answering the "oh" moment question was really fun! And as disappointed with the quality of The Sign by the end, I still really love the essay I wrote reading way to in to the color and lens flare choices and how they relate to the animals Tharn and Phaya are associated with.

February:

most popular: Symptoms of a System Error: The Manifestation of Myungha’s Depression in Love for Love’s Sake

favorites: Symptoms of a System Error: The Manifestation of Myungha’s Depression in Love for Love’s Sake || The Ways Non was Failed in Dead Friend Forever || DyFy Body Language Breakdown

Love for Love's Sake was fucking incredible, and I had so much goddamn fun writing this post about the ways in which different video game structures are implemented in this series. Dead Friend Forever may have stumbled right at the end in my eyes but holy hell was the writing around the abuse Non suffered strong! And you know I love me some Fire and Dynamite.

March:

most popular: Pitch to get people to watch Love is Better the Second Time Around.

favorites: Trans Allegory in Cupid's Last Wish, co-authored with @lurkingshan and @so-much-yet-to-learn || Unknown Episode 6 Breakdown Breakdown || Top 5 (or 3) Seme & Ukes Ask

CUPID'S LAST WISH IS A TRANS ALLEGORY EVERYONE AND EVEN IF THE NARRATIVE IS NOT THE STRONGEST I THINK IT IS WORTH WATCHING FOR THAT REASON. Ohhhh Unknown how I loved writing essays about you...And of course, I am going to love any opportunity I am given to talk about 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us

April:

most popular: Random QL Superlatives

favorites: Random QL Superlatives || QL Grievances

I loved giving awards to the most ridiculously niche moments in TV shows. I had so much fun coming up with the superlative categories!

It's funny because I feel like my writing really dropped off a lot this year. But doing this 2024 Recap was super enlightening for me to see that maybe I just do not understand the passage of time because I did actually write stuff every month!

You can go here to find your top 10 posts of each month.

#2024 BL Recap #Love in the big city #unknown the series #legend of vox machina #the watermelon woman #the handmaiden #takara's treasure #cooking crush #love for love's sake #love is better the second time around #the sign #ayaka is in love with hiroko #the miracle of teddy bear #dead friend forever

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eemoo1o-animoo · 5 months ago

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10 Grelle-based paraphernalia that I found on eBay, in no particular order but my subjective deeming of relevance or importance

Possibly part one of a series? Perhaps?

If so, then I probably won’t contain it to only eBay, and I’m going off of what comes up for someone who’s based in the UK, so maybe there’s more or less stuff available if you’re in other countries due to shipping limitations, etc.? But eBay at the moment is my main source, and I’m only doing this — work that anyone can do, nothing exceptionally thorough or insightful — because I’m just a little bored, and I know Grelle is the most valued in the fandom and TSOGTR hasn’t been writing itself for the past year and a quarter, so why would it start now?

This is written at 3AM-6AM on 29/8/2024, so if this is found long after this date then there’s a chance my sources have already been bought out or deleted for whatever reason.

Grell Sutcliff Funko Pop 18 Kuroshitsuji Black Butler POP! Vinyl Anime Figure

At the time of writing this, there are no bids for this and so the price remains at £21.99 (item and shipping). The current bid is due to end on ≈1/9/2024. Wait for the last second to bid one pence higher than the asking price and you’re golden.

I actually have one of these, but it was gifted to me, and so I don’t know how much mine was sold for, but seeing as the four Black Butler Funko Pops have been vaulted and are sold for way higher in other places online, I think this is a pretty good deal.

(Fun fact, the person who gifted her to me as well as tracked down other cheap listings for the other three called her Greta. Consistently. So. Greta. Greta Sutcliff.)

As we can see from the item’s pictures, the figure has been taken out of its box, at the very least just to be show-cased or inspected, but it does appear to come with the box. Here is a listing on Amazon (9.99 GBP, excluding shipping) for 10 Funko Pop display sleeves that should match the item’s measurements.

The current conversions for this item’s price (18.99 GBP) are as follow:

25.06 USD

36.91 AUD

33.77 CAD

22.52 Euro

2,103.26 INR

855,31 Turkish Lira

39.92 NZD

3,623.33 Yen

Obviously I’m not including every conversion in here, only the most obvious/prevalent. If your country’s currency isn’t here, then my apologies, and feel free to bring it to my attention (with currency named) so that I may add it to any future episodes to this possible series, or to edit this post back with the conversions of that time.

Black Butler PVC Keychain Grell

The description of this listing says that this is officially licensed and from one reverse image search to find a bunch of listings across several websites for it, I’m inclined to believe that this is actually an official piece of merch and not a fan-made item that is being resold as I had originally thought it to be. (Wow, I’m such a knowledgable Black Butler fan. I know, I know.)

There’s not much to say on this other than the fact that it’s cute and I think a few pence has been shaved off from the original selling price, though I’m not too sure. I imagine it would have easily gone for 8.99 GBP, but again I’m not too sure; it’s 3AM after all and this isn’t a serious project for me.

The current conversions go as followed:

11.87 USD

17.47 AUD

15.99 CAD

10.66 Euro

996.15 INR

405,49 Turkish Lira

18.90 NZD

1,715.62 Yen

Grelle Black Butler manga plushie Anime Soft Toy

It’s not the best price, I admit. If you’re looking for something cheaper then maybe go for the 5" plush, and there’s another listing on AnimeWare, but once tax and shipping get evolved it ends up being more or less the same price, anyway.

I think this is under the same line as Plushlois comes from, and to that I say: if someone buys her, will that come back? Will Grelle’s face be remade by @fancymeatcomputers, as @nullbutler’s Plushlois once had?

Anyway, she’s super cute. Her hair is a bit too saturated, but that’s not much to lament over, and she’s pricey, but is still far less expensive than any available Plushlois listing I could find (£52!! Usually!!).

Here are the current conversions:

39.61 USD

58.30 AUD

53.35 CAD

35.58 Euro

3,323.16 INR

1,351.58 Turkish Lira

63.01 NZD

5,727.47 Yen

Black Butler Kuroshitsuji Grell Undertaker Anime two sided Pillow Case Cover 250

I’d originally listed another pillow for listing number four, which goes for the same price, but decided not to as Grelle is more prominent on this one.

Not much to say about this other than as far as I can tell it’s just the pillowcase and not a case and a pillow, but if you want to add a lil extra something to your Grelle shrine or limit your chances of finding a normie partner by having this as the centrepiece to your 20-something pillow statement on your romantic four-post bed.

Here are the current conversions:

7.91 USD

11.64 AUD

10.65 CAD

7.10 Euro

663.67 INR

269.94 Turkish Lira

12.58 NZD

1,143.54 Yen

Black butler Grell Sutcliffe figure Kuroshitsuji SEGA PVC Scale Anime s01

Another shambolic price, I know. But out of all the non-Funko Pop Grelle figures listed, this is definitely the cheapest.

Out of all of the non-Funko Pop Black Butler figures, it’s far from it. I think the cheapest figures went to Ciel and Sebastian, but with a massive gap between the cheapest Ciel figure versus the cheapest Sebastian figure (there’s a lot of listings for this particular figure, all with free shipping and of similar prices). There’s also a listing that sells Sebastian and Grelle together with free postage, which would value each figure as far less than what this one figure is being sold for.

The current conversions (of 130.22 GBP) go as follows:

172.00 USD

252.73 AUD

231.50 CAD

154.48 Euro

14,430.37 INR

5,874.98 Turkish Lira

273.31 NZD

24,865.90 Yen

Black Butler Grell Sutcliff Cosplay Costume Red Death Men Full Set Outfits New

I’m not much of cosplayer or a cosplay fan, but from the few full cosplays I found that range from £40-50, this seems like a good price.

There’s also a good few listings for Grelle-style shoes? The cheapest of which would be here. And both the shoes and the clothing come in men’s sizes, so it’s a match if you ask me.

The current conversions of the cosplay’s price are:

23.76 USD

34.92 AUD

31.98 CAD

21.34 Euro

1,993.77 INR

811.52 Turkish Lira

37.76 NZD

3,435.09 Yen

Kuroshitsuji Black Butler Madam Red Angelina Dalles Anime Figurine - Play Arts

Look. I know this isn’t a Grelle figure, but I assume that most if not all Grelle fans are also Madame Red fans. And you have to admit that this is a damn good price for a figure of this type. In fact, I’d say this figure is the second cheapest, right behind the aforementioned Ciel figure.

Also the seller has the username “welsh lady”. Surely it’d basically be treason if I didn’t promote it.

The conversions of the item price (6.99 GBP) go as follows:

9.23 USD

13.57 AUD

12.43 CAD

8.29 Euro

774.85 INR

315.29 Turkish Lira

14.68 NZD

1,336.09 Yen

USED Dolk Black Butler Book of Circus Grell Sutcliff Cast Doll 700mm Japan RARE

This is a fucking awful price. It hurts just to imagine buying this. However, it seems like a rare or custom-made doll, in a fancy box, and it was the only listing I could find of it, meaning it’s not a re-sell.

There’s not much to say — as you can see I ranked it pretty low on the relevancy scale, but I don’t know: maybe someone’s into this sort of thing, especially if it comes to Grelle.

The item prices are converted as follows:

2,805.52 USD

4,123.16 AUD

3,776.66 CAD

2,519.24 Euro

235,385.31 INR

95,779.75 Turkish Lira

4,458.47 NZD

405,826.75 Yen

1 x playing card Black Butler Anime Sebastian Michaelis - Jack of Hearts ZT 85

For one playing card, to me this price seems ghastly. There’s also a Sebastian variant for the exact same price, but that’s all I can find in this style. The other listings for Black Butler playing cards aren’t in this style, coming wholly in colour with patterned frames. As far as I can see, on eBay there are only two listings for this type of playing card, and I’ve already linked them both to this post.

The current conversions of the item price (2.49 GBP) are:

3.29 USD

4.83 AUD

4.43 CAD

2.95 Euro

276.04 INR

112,34 Turkish Lira

5.23 NZD

476.23 Yen

10.

Black Butler Ceramic Mug Grell, Sebastian

There’s a more expensive mug with just Grelle on it that I’d contemplated listing here instead. (And, hey! From Germany, too. The TSOGTR imagery just won’t quit.) But this one is cheaper.

Besides, enough scrubbing with some iron wool will get rid of that ugly demon mug (no pun intended) in no time, surely!

The current conversions go as follows:

19.62 USD

28.84 AUD

26.41 CAD

17.62 Euro

1,646.22 INR

669,76 Turkish Lira

31.17 NZD

2,841.32 Yen

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #grell sutcliff #grelle sutcliff #redcliff #madame red #madam red #angelina dalles #ebay #anime figure #merch listings #images #list #linked post #links #custom doll #ooak doll #original post #long post

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bonefall · 1 year ago

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Don’t know if this is the right place to ask, but could you talk more about zoos? I’ve seen many people say that zoos are inherently exploitative and that we should instead focus on advocating for wildlife preserves, etc., but I’m not sure what to think of that. You seem to know a lot about wildlife protection, so what’s your opinion on this?

There are folks faaaar better than myself to talk about the issues of zoos specifically and I'll try to toss in some sources so you can go and learn more, but let me try and explain my mindset here.

Summary of my opinion on this: BOTH of these things can be poorly managed, and I broadly support both. They should exist in tandem. I am pro-accredited zoo and am extremely sensitive towards misinformation. I also do think the best place for animals to be is in their natural environment, but nature "preserves" aren't inherently perfect. They can also be prone to the capitalist (and colonialist) pressures that less informed people believe they're somehow immune to.

Because of the goal of my project being to make the setting of WC accurate to Northwestern England, my research is based on UK laws, ecology, and conservation programs.

On Zoos

On Nature Reserves

An Aside on Fortress Conservation

On Zoos

The legal definition of a Zoo in the UK (because that is what BB's ecological education is based around), as defined by the Zoo Licensing Act of 1981 (ZLA), is a "place where wild animals are kept for exhibition to the public," excluding circuses and pet shops (which are covered by different laws.)

This applies equally to private, for-profit zoos, as well as zoos run by wildlife charities and conservation organizations. Profit does not define a zoo. If there's a place trying to tell you it's not a zoo but a "sanctuary" or a "wildlife park," but you can still go visit and see captive wild animals, even if it's totally free, it's a marketing trick. Legally that is still a zoo in the UK.

(for fellow Americans; OUR definition is broader, more patchwork because we are 50 little countries in a trenchcoat, and can include collections of animals not displayed to the public.)

That said, there's a HUGE difference between Chester Zoo, run by the North of England Zoological Society, which personally holds the studbooks for maintaining the genetic diversity of 10 endangered species, has 134 captive breeding projects, cultivates 265 threatened plant species, and sends its members as consultants to United Nations conferences on climate change, and Sam Tiddles' Personal Zebra Pit.

Sam Tiddles' Personal Zebra Pit ONLY has to worry about the UK government. There's another standard zoos can hold themselves to if they want to get serious about conservation like Chester Zoo; Accreditation. There are two major zoo organizations in the UK, BIAZA and EAZA.

(Americans may wonder about AZA; that's ours. AZA, EAZA, and BIAZA are all members of the World Association of Aquariums and Zoos, or WAZA, but they are all individual organizations.)

A zoo going for EAZA's "accreditation" has to undergo an entire year of evaluation to make sure they fit the strict standards, and renewal is ongoing. You don't just earn it once. You have to keep your animal welfare up-to-date and in compliance or you will lose it.

The benefit of joining with an accredited org is that it puts the zoo into a huge network of other organizations. They work together for various conservation efforts.

There are DOZENS of species that were prevented from going extinct, and are being reintroduced back to their habitats, because of the work done by zoos. The scimitar-horned oryx, takhi, California condor, the Galapagos tortoise, etc. Some of these WERE extinct in the wild and wouldn't BE here if it hadn't been for zoos!

The San Diego zoo is preventing the last remaining hawaiian crows from embracing oblivion right now, a species for which SO LITTLE of its wild behavior is known they had to write the book on caring for them, and Chester zoo worked in tandem with the Uganda Wildlife Authority to provide tech and funding towards breakthroughs in surveying wild pangolins.

Don't get me wrong;

MOST zoos are not accredited,

nor is accreditation is REQUIRED to make a good zoo,

nor does it automatically PROVE nothing bad has happened in the zoo,

There are a lot more Sam Tiddles' Personal Zebra Pits than there are Chester Zoos.

That's worth talking about! We SHOULD be having conversations on things like,

Is it appropriate to keep and breed difficult, social megafauna, like elephants or cetaceans? What does the data say? Are there any circumstances where that would be okay, IF the data does confirm we can never provide enough space or stimulation to perfectly meet those species' needs?

How can we improve animal welfare for private zoos? Should we tighten up regulations on who can start or run one (yes)? Are there enough inspectors (no)?

Do those smaller zoos meaningfully contribute to better conservation? How do we know if they are properly educating their visitors? Can we prove this one way or the other?

Who watches the watchmen? Accreditation societies hold themselves accountable. Do these organizations truly have enough transparency?

(I don't agree with Born Free's ultimate conclusion that we should "phase out" zoos, but you should always understand the opposing arguments)

But bottom line of my opinion is; Good zoos are deeply important, and they have a tangible benefit to wildlife conservation. Anyone who tries to tell you that "zoos are inherently unethical" either knows very little about zoos or real conservation work, or... is hiding some deeper, more batshit take, like "having wild animals in any kind of captivity is unlawful imprisonment."

(you'll also get a lot more work done in regulating the exotic animal trade in the UK if you go after private owners, btw. zoos have nothing to do with how lax those laws are.)

Anyway I'm a funny cat blog about battle kitties, and the stuff I do for BB is to educate about the ecosystem of Northern England. If you want to know more about zoos, debunking misconceptions, and critiques from someone with more personal experience, go talk to @why-animals-do-the-thing!

Keep in mind though, again, they talk about American zoos, where this post was written with the UK in mind.

(and even then, England specifically. ALL UK members and also the Isle of Man have differences in their laws.)

(If anyone has other zoo education tumblr blogs in mind, especially if they are European, lmk and I'll edit this post)

On Nature Reserves

Remember how broad the legal definition of a zoo actually was? Same thing over here. A "nature reserve" in the UK is a broad, unofficial generic term for several things. It doesn't inherently involve statutory protection, either, meaning there's some situations where there's no laws to hold anyone accountable for damage

These are the "nature reserve" types relevant to my project; (NOTE: Ramsar sites, SACs, and SPAs are EU-related and honestly, I do not know how Brexit has effected them, if at all, so I won't be explaining something I don't understand.)

Local Wildlife Site (LWS) Selected via scientific survey and managed locally, connecting wildlife habitats together and keeping nature close to home. VERY important... and yet, incredibly prone to destruction because there aren't good reporting processes in place. Whenever a report comes out every few years, the Wildlife Trust says it often only gets data for 15% of all their registered sites, and 12% get destroyed in that timeframe.

Local Nature Reserve (LNR) A site that can be declared by a district or county council, if proven to have geographic, educational, biodiversity, or recreational value. The local authority manages this, BUT, the landowner can remain in control of the property and "lease" it out (and boy oh boy, landowners do some RIDICULOUS things)

National Nature Reserve (NNR) This is probably closest to what you think of when someone says "nature reserve." Designated by Natural England to protect significant habitat ranges and geographic formations, but still usually operates in tandem with private land owners who must get consent if they want to do something potentially damaging to the NNR.

Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) (pronounced Triple S-I) A conservation designation for a particular place, assessed and defined by Natural England for its biological or geographic significance. SSSIs are protected areas, and often become the basis for NNRs, LNRs, Ramsar sites, SACs, SPAs, etc.

So you probably noticed that 3/4 of those needed to have the private ownership problem mentioned right in the summary, and it doesn't end there. Even fully government-managed NNRs and SSSIs work with the private sectors of forestry, tourism, and recreation.

We live under Capitalism; EVERYTHING has a profit motive, not just zoos.

I brushed over some of those factors in my Moorland Research Notes and DESPERATELY tried to stay succinct with them, but it was hard. The things that can happen to skirt around the UK's laws protecting wildlife could make an entire season of Monty Python sketches.

Protestors can angrily oppose felling silver birch (a "weed" in this context which can change the ecosystem) because it made a hike less 'pretty' and they don't understand heath management.

Management can be reluctant to ban dogs and horses for fear of backlash, even as they turn heath to sward before our eyes.

Reserves can be owned by Count Bloodsnurt who thinks crashing through the forest with a pack of dogs to exhaust an animal to death is a profitable traditional British passtime.

Or you can literally just pretend that you accidentally chased a deer for several hours and then killed it while innocently sending your baying hounds down a trail. (NOTE: I am pro-hunting, but not pro-animal cruelty.)

The Forestry Commission can slobber enthusiastically while replacing endangered wildlife habitats with non-native, invasive sitka spruce plantations, pretending most trees are equal while conveniently prioritizing profitable timber species.

I have STORIES to tell about the absolute Looney Tunes bullshit that's going on between conservationists and rich assholes who want to sell grouse hunting access, but I'll leave it at this fascinating tidbit about air guns and mannequins which are "totally, absolutely there for no nefarious reason at all, certainly not to prevent marsh harriers from nesting in an area where they also keep winding up mysteriously killed in illegal snares, no no no"

BUT. Since Nature Reserve isn't a hard defined legal concept, and any organization could get involved in local conservation in the UK, and just about anyone or anything could own one... IT'S CHESTER ZOO WITH THE STEEL CHAIR!!

They received a grant in 2021 to restore habitat to a stretch of 10 miles extending outside of their borders, working with TONS of other entities such as local government and conservation charities in the process. There's now 6,000 square meters of restored meadow, an orchard, new ponds, and maintained reedbeds, because of them.

It isn't just Chester Zoo, either. It's all over the UK. Durrel Wildlife, which runs Jersey Zoo, just acquired 18,500 acres to rewild in Perthshire. Citizen Zoo is working with the Beaver Trust to bring beavers back to London and is always looking for volunteers to help with their river projects, and the Edinburgh Zoo is equipped with gene labs being used to monitor and analyze the remaining populations of non-hybrid Scottish Wildcats.

The point being,

Nature preserves have problems too. They are not magical fairy kingdoms that you put up a fence around and then declare you Saved Nature Hooray! They need to be protected. They need to be continuously assessed. They are prone to capitalist pressures just like everything else on this hell planet. Go talk to my boy Karl he'll give you a hug about it.

"Nature Preserves" are NOT an "alternative" to zoos and vice versa. They do not do the same thing. A zoo is a center of education and wildlife research which displays exotic animals. A nature preserve is a parcel of native ecosystem. We need LOTS of nature preserves and we need them well-managed ASAP.

We could never just "replace" zoos with nature preserves, and we're nowhere near the amount of protected ecosystem space to start thinking of scaling back animals in captivity. Until King Arthur comes out of hibernation to save Britain, that's the world we live in.

An Aside

My project and my research is based on the isle of Great Britain. The more I learn about the ecosystems that are naturally found there, the more venomously I reject the old lie, "humans are a blight."

YOU are an animal. You're a big one, too. You know what the role of big animals in an ecosystem are? Change. Elephants knock over trees, wolves alter the course of rivers, bison fertilize the plains from coast-to-coast. In Great Britain, that's what hominids have done for 900,000 years, their populations ebbing and flowing with every ice age.

Early farming created the moors and grazing sheep and cattle maintain it, hosting hundreds of specialist species. Every old-growth forest has signs of ancient coppicing and pollarding, which create havens for wildlife when well-managed. Corn cockle evolved as a mimic of wheat seeds, so farmers would plant it over and over within their fields.

This garbage idea that humans are somehow "separate" from or "above" nature is poison. It's not true ANYWHERE.

It contributes to an idea that our very presence is somehow damaging to natural spaces, and to "protect" it, we have to completely leave it alone. NO! Absolutely NOT! There are places where we have to limit harvesting and foot traffic, but humans ALWAYS lived in nature.

Even the ecosystems that this mindset comes from rejects it, but this shit doesn't JUST get applied to British people who become alienated and disconnected from their surroundings to the point where they don't know what silver birch does.

It's DEADLY for the indigenous people who protect 80% of our most important ecosystems.

It's a weapon against the Maasai people, stopped from hunting or growing crops on their own land. It's violence for 9 San hunters shot at by a helicopter with a "kill poachers on-sight" policy, as one of the world's LARGEST diamond mines operates in the same motherfucking park. The Havasupai people are kept out of the Grand Canyon that they managed for generations because they might "collect too many nuts" and starve squirrels, Dukha reindeer herders suddenly get banned from chopping wood or fishing, and watch wolves decimate their animals in the absence of their herding dogs.

It's nightmare after nightmare of human displacement in the name of "conservation."

That all ties back to that mindset. This idea that nature is pure, "pristine," and should be totally untouched. There are some starting to call it Fortress Conservation.

You can't begin to understand the criticisms of modern conservation without acknowledging that we are still living under the influence of capitalism and colonialism. Those who fixate on speaking for "animals/nature/trees who don't have a voice" often seem to have no interest in the indigenous people who do.

Listen. There's no simple answer; and the solution will vary for each region.

Again, my project is within the UK, one of the most ecologically devastated areas in the world. There are bad zoos that the law allows a pass. There are incredible zoos that are vital to conservation, in and outside of the country. There's not enough nature preserves. The best ones that exist are often exploited for profit.

I hope that my silly little blog sparks an interest in a handful of people to understand more about their own local ecosystems, and teaches folks about the unique beauty even within a place as "boring" as England.

But, my straightforward statement is that I have no patience for nonconstructive, broad zoo slander that lumps together ALL of them, and open contempt for anyone who tries to sell nature preserves like a perfect, morally superior "alternative." We need them BOTH right now, and we need to acknowledge that zoos AND preserves have legal and ethical issues that aren't openly talked about.

#ALSO THAT GUIDE IVE BEEN WORKING ON IS DONE #Im just waiting for the input of the sensitivity readers bc I made a whole section on--#How ableis m might express in the different clans #And part of it became a thunder-callout post lmaooooo #Also this zoo doc has been sitting competed in my drafts for a while #All this to say that uh. I hope the strange place they visit in the upcoming se is not a zoo :J #I will hit it with a golf club if it is <3 #Leaning heavily towards the 'oh no two DEMIGODS ended up in a zoo' idea #Which is objectively funnier #And you know what else is objectively funny. When these posts break orbit and then ppl are surprised that i am a kitty cat blog #Hal. It's about Cats.#Bone Babble

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lamaery · 1 year ago

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100 Portraits Training | Part 3 and 4 These are mostly from my ref folders for Adolin and Renarin :D Part three

15 - 16) Australian actor Remy Hii

17) Filipino-American actor Vincent Rodriguez III

18) German tennis player Alexander Zverev

19) Filipino-Canadian actor Manny Jacinto

20-21) Chinese weightlifter Lü Xiaojun

22) Burmese-Amercian mixed martial artist Aung La Nsang

Next to actors I looked for sportspersons to use as references, because they have enough of a public image that I could reference them with name (which felt better than just using random people from the internet). Actors are often shown often being very attractive (I should take more refs directly from movies...) and it was nice to also try more day-to-day faces. Everyone is beautiful in their own way, of course, but I wanted to look for pictures which didn't having the person they showed looking beautiful as their main objective.

Part four

23 - 24) Burmese mixed martial artist Aung La Nsang

25) Indonesian badminton player Tontowi Ahmad

26) South Korean sabre fencer Oh Sang-uk

27)Philipine pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena

28) Filipino-Canadian actor Manny Jacinto once more

As for links in this one hmm... This page by the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists has shot overview of some terms which are important to be aware of for representation (albeit from a theater perspective, but it's still useful) This piece by Khoo Wei Shawn is a brief look into how racial representation has changed in the cartoons using the Ducktales series as an example. His footnotes could be useful for anyone wanting to get deeper into the topic, too. And lastly another take on racism in animation by Ruth Dubb. This one looks at the depiction of black people in early American cartoons and the stereotypes that came with those. Most sources I could find were from an American view. Or least from people living within a Western and American context. In part that's probably due to the language barrier (I have some in German, but there we go again... difficult to share that with most people here). Different countries have their own history of people being racialised and how that intersects with other issues and themes. So if you know of or have interesting takes from non-American sources and perspectives on the topics, please share. :)

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Part 1 – Start of the project Part 2 – Kaladin Part 5 – Dalinar Part 6 & 7 – Shallan and Jasnah Part 8 & 9 - various people and skin tones Part 10 – a little bit for The Lopen Part 11 & 12 - Wit and Navani Part 13 - ofmd und Dev Patel :)

#procreate #art practice #portraits #portrait study #adolin kholin #renarin kholin #references #art challenge #sketch #digital drawing

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flipfan2010 · 16 days ago

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This is probably going to be my last review but it's definitely better than my other ones

I actually think the sole reason this movie even exists is because they tried to replicate the fame of other Hollywood kids movies. There are a lot of elements in this movie that are just straight up copied. But I think my biggest problem with this entire movie is the plotline and disregarding the continuity. First of all, Jett has never being disregarded in the entirety of the 10 years since this show released. In fact with how him the show probably wouldn't even exist because he is tasked by constructing the plot of every episode in the series. Delivering packages I'm doing the most important job not many super wings can do. Remember that episode in season 1 Jerome tried to take the delivery and he failed. So the fact that Jett is basically written as a hero's journey character in this movie is just bullshit. Enough of that. I need to talk about the plotline and oh boy, is it a shit show. As soon as I heard a movie was being made. I honestly thought it would be about discovering more of the super wings lore and discovering new things we've never seen in the show before. Plus every single character that was discarded. Would make an appearance in this movie. When I heard this movie was going to be about social media influences, I just fainted. The people that worked on this movie seriously thought that making the plotline about social media influencers that's never been established in the Super Wings universe before was a good idea. There were hundreds of other things they could have done with this movie. And because of this stupid plotline. The other super wings except Jett contribute nothing to this plotline despite this movie being called the Super Wings movie. I literally don't want to get started with Billy Willy. But in basic terms, he is easily the worst written villain I have ever seen. There is no way his toy company could have been shut down. There were still hundreds of kids around the world who want toys. But that's not my biggest problem. His plan is to get rid of the social media influencers by literally said in them to space possibly leaving them there to die. I mean just because his toy business went out of business does not mean he can become an absolute psychopath and kill all of these people. I mean he literally tries to kill Jett in the toy factory scene by chaining him. Did they not think that this would scare a few children? In fact, this was actually one of the reasons why this movie was a disaster. I don't sympathise with him. He's literally just a clown. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention he literally floods New York City killing even more people. Again this movie is so freaking dark for being a show about talking transforming planes. Oh yeah, there were only seven super wings in this entire movie. Can this even be called the super Wings movie anymore because they literally don't bring back any forgotten characters that we have wanted to see for years. I'm really surprised they didn't bring Chase back. He's literally the perfect Super Wing for the movie. Now I'm actually one of the few people in this community to own an English DVD of the movie which cost me nearly $30 because I had to get it shipped from the UK. The English dub makes this movie even worse. All The jokes were some of the worst ones I have ever seen in any movie. The series never had this kind of humour before and when they did it was actually funny. But I did not laugh or charcoal at a single joke in this entire movie. In fact, My soul was slowly being sucked out of my body because of this dull movie.

Overall, I am just blown away by the fact that this movie. That has some of the worst writing I've ever seen, Wasted potential, lots of character assassination and overall one of the worst animated movies I've ever seen. Was even approved by the people at Alpha. All of the executives should feel embarrassed thinking that this god-awful movie would work. This is evidence that they don't care about what they're making anymore. And it's not just me that thinks this movie is awful. So many other people from across the globe that saw this movie in theatres has the same problem that is being in the social media plotline which I just don't understand how they managed to come up with that. And of course the dark implications. I've been trying to find a high quality version of the English dub because I want to get overview of this movie out on YouTube because there's just so much other stuff that I couldn't fit into this. But that's just my opinion.

#super wings

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mixotrophics · 6 months ago

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forcing ecology to conform to human squeamishness -- a source of continuing harm

image source - SCOTLAND: the big picture

rewilding -- you may have heard of it. Letting native species (or similar enough ones) do their thing. Bringing back locally-extinct species. letting life, Live but part of nature is also death. Decay. Rot. Blood, gore. Fungus. Maggots. Death breaks apart the Body and lets its nutrients, borrowed during life, re-enter the cycles and nourish more life.

I've heard of a term, I think it was re-dead-ing, but cannot find the post... I do see, now, Death Gives Life , referring to the same thing.

we (broadly) are disgusted by the presence of death. 'Dead stock' -- dead animals, dead plants, so on -- are often removed from the scenery in places like the UK(1). This is often done in the name of disease control, with the idea that dead bodies in nature cause disease(1) even though the work of scavengers & decomposers clear up the germs(2) , -- main concern is, if the animal was very sick before it dies, its carcass may carry that disease. But that is not a corpse problem, that is an animal health problem, which lays in problems like artificially high & concentrated populations (e.g. deer, chronic wasting disease). Just keep them away from waterways and livestock, probably(3).

The carcass(of tree and animal alike) is a node of concentrated nutrients. When left in place, those nutrients return from the ecology from which they came. When the carcass is taken away, those nutrients are gone elsewhere(3). And now, detached from the life that has mechanisms to eat-rot(2), we humans have to do something with it. Like with manure, compartmentalizing these "wastes" away from growing life turns them into a problem(4).

Fallen trees & rotting meat are the homes for so many species, sometimes species only raising their young at particular stages or specializing to particular parts -- fur, bones, meat, bark(2). disallowing the dead & rotting from resting where they lay where we can see&smell them, is disallowing these species to find a place to live.

image source - ARK Rewilding Netherlands

& it's not just bugs. Think vultures, Think scavenger-mammals(2) ; Not only these, but predators fill up on already-dead meat, allowing endangered prey like the capercaillie to nest successfully(3).

and "cleaning up" this "ugly thing" that is the dead may deprive animals of their chance to mourn(1). Not all animals do -- many don't care much, many eat their own babies -- but some do and they should be given that chance.

...

greenwashed environmentalism thrives on the beauty of nature, operating in very narrow definitions of beauty and what is correct ... mud, rot, death, disease, bugs, stench, shit, these are all fundamental aspects of the inbuilt reciprocity+interconnectedness of being alive, and things we reject at the peril of so much.

image source - How death gives life

to all dead things: we, the living, love you, and thank you for giving back to the natural community at the end of your time with us. If only such ideas were not so opposed in the current era.

...

1 ) King, S. How death gives life. Rewilding Britain, 2023. 2 ) Beekers, B.; Meertens, H.; Reiniers, K.; Helmer, W.; Colijn, E.; Krawczynski, R.; and Meissner, R.; trans. Righart, A.; and Allen, D. Circle of life: A new way to support Europe's scavengers. Rewilding Europe & ARK Nature, 2017. 3 ) Ferraro, K. M.; and Hirst, C. Missing carcasses, lost nutrients: Quantifying nutrient losses from deer culling practices in Scotland. Ecological Solutions and Evidence 5(3), 2024. 4 ) Moore Lappé, F.; and Collins, J. World Hunger: 10 Myths. 2015.

#inverts #vertebrate #miaow #ecology #biology #zoology #animal death #dead animal #decomposition #decay #rot #rewilding #environmentalism #nature

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serenity-song · 8 months ago

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Live reaction rambles for the New Who finale. Under the cut for spoiler town.

A small part of me is hoping the Susan thing is a double bluff and we’ll still see her somehow.

I haven’t seen enough classic who but I adore having Mel around. She’s wonderful.

Kate!!!!! NOOO. I’m refusing to cry because I refuse to believe it’s permanent. (May be in denial)

Ok it won’t be permanent. They can’t kill EVERYONE. That’s not how this show works.

I probably should have watched Pyramids of Mars.

Love that we got to hear Sarah Jane. Teared up for sure.

Holy moly this plan was intricate.

Not gonna lie, I still can’t unsee Scooby Doo’s 3D animation in the “Sute”

When was the last time the TARDIS had multiple pilots at once? (Actually asking I may have skipped most of 13)

“Funny things happen at 73 Yards.”

Doctor Who has never looked this pretty tho. We’ve come a long way folks.

Ncuti is playing the devastation of Earth so well. The Doctor’s favourite planet. All the worlds he worked to save. Gone to dust.

And of course our healed Doctor is blaming himself.

Has he cried every episode? Maybe not 73 Yards? Hmm

Is that the sister from Fleabag? Should look up later. 99% it is. It’s the UK. They have 5 actors and all that.

Universe saving spoon.

Wait… did he just swear on a spoon? I may have giggled. Possibly the wrong moment for a giggle.

I think it’s so cool how they’ve literally tied in the Tales in the Tardis series. (In? Of? Anyway)

Who is the mother!!! We better find out.

Oh no Mel don’t get possessed.

She got possessed. Or is she dead? Because why if so 😭

Also got too engrossed but I knew he called it re-Mel before she left the room. He wouldn’t have had her leave I don’t think otherwise.

YES RESURRECTION WE CALLED IT.

Wanted more Rose though, let’s be real.

But we still don’t know who the woman was.

Wait did Mrs Flood look at camera again??

Companion leaving this quick was unexpected.

Mildly underwhelmed by the way this has played out. Still crying of course.

Plus this goodbye. 😭

This feels so frustrating. Like a “you’re better off without me” breakup.

Ok so I mean, could have predicted we wouldn’t actually get Mrs Flood revelations. But why did she end it almost like I imagine a Ceebeebies (sp) broadcast to be?

Anyway. Solid 7/10.

#doctor who #doctor who spoilers #dw spoilers #Ncuti gatwa #Millie Gibson #Emma rambles about doctor who

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myokk · 9 months ago

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Can you draw a tutorial for full bodies, similar to what you did for faces and heads?

I probably will, but not right away bc I feel like I’m still figuring out anatomy too😅😅 I’m working on it a lot though (the sketches on this blog are mainly so I can keep practicing more dynamic poses & draw more than just a face) & I’m jotting down a lot of tips that are helping me as I learn💓💓 once I have enough I’ll definitely do a write-up & share it with you guys though!! (And I’ll definitely do one for hands too bc I love drawing hands!)

Here are my tips in the meantime, that I’m doing right now (if you’re interested);

1) LOTS of figure drawing, I like to do exercises where I give myself 10 min to draw something, then 5, then 1, then 30 seconds (4 drawings total, I normally just split a page into fourths). Drawing from gifs helps a lot too bc the people are moving and not static.

2) study the masters!! I have huge art books full of gorgeous quality prints, of baroque art, Renaissance, Impressionism…(you can probably find some at the library). This also helps SO MUCH with clothing draping/folds etc. these artists already did the work figuring out how to exaggerate things to make them look as beautiful as possible and we can learn from them😇

3) do studies of your favorite artists on social media!! It helps you figure out WHAT you like about their art, and how you can incorporate it into your own style. (I don’t do this but I should jajajaja). Some of my inspirations on Instagram are: withapencilinhand (super nsfw, look at your own risk😅), hamletmachine, Paul Heaston, Tony DiTerlizzi, etc etc (I can do a full write-up of my fav artists but the list is sooooooo long)

3) focus on drawing rough lines of movement, and build on top of those with shapes. But always focus on getting fluid and natural looking poses 💓 (or just draw noodle limbs like I do) (don’t do that). If I get really lost I force people to take pictures of me and then copy from that 😅 but I know a lot of professional artists & every single one uses references. So don’t be afraid to use them or feel like you’re “cheating�� for not being able to just draw something straight from your brain. Bodies are hard to draw! Perspective is hard! Shadows/lighting are hard!

4) think of the bodies you’re drawing as solid forms, and think about line weight & shadows. It helps a lot!!

5) @traceyc-uk shared an amazing article in the comments that explains everything a million times better than I ever could about adding life and movement to poses so they don’t look static🙏😇 I’m linking it here since you can’t click on links in comments🥲

Some examples of what I mean:

These ones are master studies, and I was focusing on line weight, line direction, shadows etc etc

Here are some of my under sketches so you can see how messy and confusing it is before I erase them all and start to go in with the black pencil😅

I hope this helps!!🫶🙏😙

I know I talk too much (it’s a problem that has Plagued me my whole life) and also I’m just typing this up on my phone as I have my coffee. So I hope it’s somewhat coherent & it helps!! & I’ll do a real “tutorial” at some point in the future😙😙😙

#art tutorial #art reference

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mellvetica · 1 month ago

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Tagged by @cryptidkreates to do a little "Share at least three things you have in common with your blorbo(s)" aftg edition. Should be horrible in the most fun way! This could get a little personal, so bare with me ♡

Thank you for tagging me!

☆ I am so full of love i have no idea how to express any of it

☆ I was sent to therapy for issues understanding and expressing emotions, and to deal with my trauma. (I now attend sessions a minimum of once a month and I'm a lot more active in my recovery! Things are nice!)

☆ i dye my hair often, but not often enough

☆ i love foxes sm but bunnies are my favourite animal!

☆ I spent a lot of time around abusive adults who were supposed to take care of me and didn't want me around.

☆ I was only 8, 9, 10.

☆ I am half english and moved from the UK as a child! I still have lots of family over there, perhaps the only ones that truly love me in terms of extended family!

☆ I was 15 when I became the primary care person for my mother. I sacrificed a lot to see her through despite how we didn't always get along.

☆ I struggled a lot with self harm and suicidal ideation, but I never wanted to die as much as I wanted to control something.

☆ I say I'm fine all the time, no matter how much I want help, I struggle to accept it.

☆ I think I'm demi!

☆ growing up, I was locked out more often than I was let in my house

☆ I have diagnosed OCD

☆ I love you so much! Hehehe

I will tag @ofdemonsandangels (thank-you for giving me the last push to read these books they make me so happy i adore you violet!)

#ill let you fogure out who is who and why and where #aftg fandom #mellsbells

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summerpearlgirl · 4 months ago

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Bridgerton & Pregnancy/Women's Rights

I find myself doing the most random google searches while watching Bridgerton or reading Polin fanfics. I thought it would be amusing to gather these together in this post.

1."I want them to be able to have sex and not get STDs or pregnant."

My Google Search: When were intestine condoms invented?

Answer: Doctors began suggesting that patients use condoms to prevent disease in the 16th century. Condoms made from animal intestines—usually those of sheep, calves, or goats—remained the main style through the mid-1800s. Used for both pregnancy- and disease-prevention, these condoms stayed in place with a ribbon that men tied around the bases of their penises.

My reflection: Rich boy, women respecting Colin should be using those. Ha! Who am I kidding? Colin definitely has a breeding kink when it comes to Pen (67 AO3 works on that topic agree).

2. "I want Colin and Pen to be having sex constantly. But I don't want them to have more than 4 kids because of the risk of prolapse etc."

My Google Search: how effective is the withdrawal method

Answer: Given it can be difficult to withdraw the penis during sex, withdrawal with real-life use is closer to 80% effective.

My reflection: Damn it. They would probably get maximum 10 months pregnancy free between babies. Maybe cycle tracking could help? I will just assume they do 69 or the intestine condoms so I can sleep at night.

Fanfics which added fuel to this fire (I think both these fics are very well written and I recommend reading them): Someone Ought to Say Something by lemonsaltwater. rockabye baby (don't say a word) by DollyPop, Parmandur.

3. "Eloise would thrive at University! She would talk the most during class discussions. Complete all of the assigned reading. Her essays would be jam-packed with footnotes."

My Google Search: when were women allowed to go to university uk

Answer: In 1868, nine women were admitted to the University of London.

My reflection: Damn. Could she dress as a man? No, that is stupid. I guess she could read and talk to people privately. How are they going to honour this part of Eloise in S5? Damned if I know.

4. "Eloise and Pen are the smartest people in that room for charades in S3. I really want them to start their own Royal Society type gatherings for women and outsmart the men."

My Google Search: royal society uk history women

Answer: Founded on 28 November 1660, it was granted a royal charter by King Charles II as The Royal Society and is the oldest continuously existing scientific academy in the world.

Women slowly gained admittance to learned societies in the UK starting in the 19th century, with the founding of the Zoological Society of London in 1829 and the Royal Entomological Society in 1833, both of which admitted women fellows from their inception.

My reflection: Ok. This could work. But Pen is more into writing and politics, rather than science. Pen and Eloise would be great politicians. The way Pen outsmarted the Queen so many times, that girl has got talent. I don't need to Google when women could vote and participate in politics. I know Pen and Eloise are long dead.

5. "Being locked into marriage after a few weeks of courtship is crazy. So many of these Polin fanfics could be resolved by people being allowed to divorce."

My Google Search: uk divorce 1800s

Answer: Before the mid-19th century the only way of obtaining a full divorce which allowed re-marriage was by a Private Act of Parliament. Between 1700 and 1857 there were 314 such Acts, most of them initiated by husbands.

The Matrimonial Causes Act passed Parliament in 1857, but the grounds for divorce remained substantially the same. Adultery remained the sole ground for divorce, although wives could now allege cruelty and desertion, in addition to the husband's adultery, in order to obtain a divorce.

My reflection: Ok. Colin and Pen will just have to live in the countryside until they get married in 1857. Thank goodness they got their shit together in the Canon book and show. The fanfic alternative universes where they marry/nearly marry other people are stressing me out. That said, the Bridgertons were an influential family, I would be pushing those family connections to get a divorce by Act of Parliament if I was them. What good is it to have social capital if you can't be with the person you love? Violet would be supportive.

#bridgerton #polin #womens rights

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eaglesnick · 3 months ago

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“The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself” – Franklin D Rooevelt

Last week I heard an inheritance tax bemoaning farmer claiming he was a “custodian" of the countryside as if that claim alone should exempt him from tax. But he is not the only one making this claim:

Sue Pritchard, Chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission said she sees:

“... farmers both as custodians of the countryside as well as food producers, putting nature-based farming at the heart of our future agricultural policy..." (ffcc.co.uk: ‘Farmers are custodians of the countryside' 30/11/20)

The Farmers Union also claims British farmers are “custodians of the iconic British landscape." (NFU General Election Manifesto 2024) and accused the Labour government of “betrayal" with regard to the changes in inheritance tax.

The dictionary definition of “custodian" is:

"A person who has responsibility for protecting or taking care of something or keeping something in good condition".

Lets examine how well British farmers have protected and taken care of Britain’s iconic landscape and the wildlife that lives within it.

Since the 1970’s 41% of all UK wildlife species have declined – mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and insects. One of the main reasons for this is the intensification of agricultural methods.

“More than 50 conservation groups say the "policy-driven" intensification of farming is a significant driver of nature loss in the UK. The State of Nature report assessed 8,000 UK species and found that one in 10 are threatened with extinction." (BBC News: 14/09/2016)

Needless to say farm leaders disputed the findings. Yet a team of ornithologists, zoologists, biologists and ecologists reported that the chief cause of declining bird populations in the UK was due to the use of pesticides and herbicides by farmers. Runoff from farms, including fertilizers and animal waste pollute waterways and soil, affecting the health of ecosystems and the wildlife that depend upon them. Grubbing up hedgerows and cutting down woodland has led y to a loss of habitat for many of our native mammals and other species.

Not content with killing off Britain’s wildlife, many farmers are also threatening the health of British consumers, in particular the long-term wellbeing of our children.

The use of pesticides which contain “forever chemicals” are a direst threat to public health. PFA chemicals, which take centuries to break down in the environment, were found in 3300 samples tested by the UK government in 2022.

Farmers do not have to use these chemicals. They choose to do so because it increases output and therefore their profits.

“Common UK fruits, vegetables and spices have been found to be contaminated with long-lasting toxins known as "forever chemicals", prompting alarm over potential impacts on public health ...” (itvX: 09/04/24)

“Profit before people” would seem to be the farmers' motto!

Rather than being “custodians” of the iconic British landscape farmers have traditionally been one of its worst enemies, bent on its destruction if it affords them a few more pennies in the bank.

In 1950, a Forestry Commission assessment concluded that we had 1 million km of hedgerow. By 2007, this reduced to 477,000km, a loss of approximately 52%. This loss of habitat for wildlife was the direct result of farmers deliberately removing hedgerows because by so doing they made more money.

Kemi Badenoch, objecting to rich farmers now having to pay inheritance tax (albeit only 50% of what everyone else has to pay) said:

“This policy is cruel, it is unfair and it is going to destroy farming as we know it”

I would suggest that “farming as we know it” isn’t fit for purpose.

“A study found that that UK is one of the world's most nature-depleted countries, with on average about half its biodiversity left - far below the global average of 75%. It means the UK is in the bottom 10% globally for biodiversity.” (CBBC: 11/10/21)

This isn’t custodianship, this is environmental vandalism on an industrial scale. The destruction of habitat, the use of pesticides and herbicides, the culling of foxes, rabbits and badgers, the eradication of meadows. wetlands and grassland, have all contributed to the catastrophic loss of biodiversity In Britain, and all in the pursuit of farmers making greater profits.

#uk politics #brexit #farming #inheritance tax #custodianship #countryside #environment biodiversity.

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puhochi · 1 year ago

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I'm usually not vocal about it due to not having lots of people to address it too, but it is important, especially today, so I hope it will reach at least someone

24th February 2024 marks two years since a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as a part of war that's lasting for more than 10 years(!!)

Millions of people who wanted nothing more than a happy life and freedom were brutally robbed of this chance by russia. And keep being robbed up until this day. For two years. Far a decade.

We should never forget about this. We should never stop seeking justice. Because justice is nonexistent while this war is still going. And justice wouldn't exist up until the moment all responsible for it will face the consequences of all their acts of terrorism and war crimes.

Please. Visit/share those links to help

This carrd has lots of info and links to different organisations that you can donate to help Ukrainians, Ukrainian Army, Ukrainian kids and Ukrainian animals:

And a few links I want to put extra attention on:

#ukraine #russia is a terrorist state #support ukraine

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maths-screaming · 1 month ago

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Well That Sucks, Thanks for the Memories

(Bonus points if you can name the anime from whose blooper reel I got the title of this post. No really - it became a part of my personal meme lexicon in the early 2000s from an anime dub blooper reel, and for the life of me I cannot remember which anime it was. Now that we've gotten the depths of my sad nerdery out of the way, let us talk about how much I suck at math.)

Like everyone else in a US high school the last week before break, I did not do much actual work the last week before break. I handed out a lot of candy canes and shelved a few books. I made a to-do list of projects that are Next Year Me's Problem. And I Googled "dyscalculia."

This isn't the first time I've looked up "dyscalculia," but it was the first time I did so on a mission: to do anything at all other than throw my hands up and go "welp, brain broken, too bad no numbers for me."

So I started looking at books and articles on dyscalculia. I read about how to build adaptation skills in kids that have it and how adults can adapt to it too. I learned that not everyone with math anxiety has dyscalculia, but everyone with dyscalculia has math anxiety.

And I learned that, with or without a numbers learning disorder, the way I was taught arithmetic was probably the worst possible approach offered in the entire previous century.

Let me back up.

The current "gold standard" for teaching math to kids is the CPA approach. It stands for Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract - the sequence by which new ideas are introduced. (It's also called the CRA approach, for Concrete - Representational - Abstract.)

Teaching a kid how to count to 10? Hand them 10 of something. Have them move the pieces around, line them up, make groups. Eventually, add pictures of groups of things (apples, kites, washed-up baseball players). Later, add the number symbols we all know and love (in the US, 1, 2, 3, and the rest of the squad).

This is the cornerstone of the Singapore method, which consistently lands Singapore's students in the top math scorers worldwide - by a lot.

Above all, this method stresses, do not withdraw concrete and pictorial representations too soon. We're hard-wired as a species to like concrete counting methods. We have ten fingers, and we use them for more than picking our noses!

Flashback to my first grade classroom.

My first grade classroom had four or five abacuses - the kind with the rainbow beads on horizontal strings. Being a child whose favorite color was "rainbow," I loved these things. I would choose them over toys during playtime.

I was not allowed to use them for math lessons.

Why? Because the abacuses were reserved "for the slower kids" (my teacher's exact words). I was "very bright"; I "just needed to apply myself."

(As a multiply-neurodivergent adult who wasn't diagnosed with any of it until adulthood and as someone who works with high schoolers every day, let me just say: the phrase "you're smart, you just need to apply yourself" should be a one-way ticket to a full LD screening. #justeducatoropinions)

I had math anxiety by the end of first grade. Because "applying myself," whatever that meant, didn't bridge that gap between the concrete and the abstract. Numbers were weird alien symbols I could decode only occasionally. Sometimes they just wouldn't talk to me. I couldn't explain why. (I was six!)

Learning at age 42 that I was systematically deprived of the tools required to succeed in math from the age of 6 is doing a number on me. On that first day, I had to take a fast three laps around the high school track to calm down before my lunch break ended.

When I got back to my desk, I of course went looking for better textbook options.

I find the artwork the Maths - No Problem! series, part of the UK National Curriculum, weirdly soothing. It's cute and friendly. And the fact that every single lesson is modeled with little cubes reassures me that no one is going to make me rely solely on those devious little "digits" until I'm good and ready.

The series is also available for free on the Internet Archive. Since I'm not looking for the best books so much as something better than I had as a kid, I've decided to start here. With Book 1A.

Let's see what happens.